At the Gold Strike Saloon, sun bars slanted in through the door and windows, highlighting the thousands of dust motes that hung in each beam of light. It was too early in the morning for customers, but that didn’t mean that the saloon was empty. Paul, the bartender, was washing and polishing glasses. The handyman, Jesus Rodriguez, was working with a mop and bucket, making passes across the floor. Despite his best effort, the mop did little to clean the floor of expectorated tobacco juice and quid residue. Nate Nabors, who employed a piano player to keep the atmosphere lighthearted when he had customers, was actually quite an accomplished pianist himself, and often played for his own enjoyment. This was just such an occasion, and he was sitting at the piano playing the Reverie by Schumann. It was a quiet and relaxing piece, geared to the moment.
Of all the women who worked at the saloon, Minnie was the only one up at this hour, and she was sitting at a table near the piano, having her breakfast of biscuit and coffee while enjoying the music. It wasn’t required that she be here yet, none of the women were required to be at work before noon, but Minnie thought she would rather be here than alone in her room, worrying about Bobby Lee and Smoke Jensen, wondering where they were at this exact moment.
Doc Baker came into the saloon then, smiling, and waving a copy of the
“Wait till you read this!” he announced loudly, though to no one in particular.
Nabors, having just finished his piece, got up from the piano and stepped over to the table where Minnie was sitting.
“What is it?” Nabors asked.
“Huh-uh,” Doc Baker said, shaking his head. “Read it, then we’ll talk about it.”
“Do you mind if I read it over your shoulder, Nate?” Minnie asked.
“Don’t mind at all.”
Doc Baker laughed. “Knowing how much Marvin Cutler wanted to see Bobby Lee hang, it must have killed his soul to have to write this.”
“What makes you think Marvin wanted to see Bobby Lee hang?” Nabors asked.
“Ha! Why do you even have to ask? You read that article he wrote about Bobby Lee. What was it he said in that last paragraph? Oh, yes, I remember.” Doc Baker cleared his throat, then quoted the article in a stentorian voice, as if reading aloud. “A great crowd present to witness Cabot being delivered into the hands of Satan will send a signal to all who would contemplate duplicating Cabot’s foul deed.”
“Marvin Cutler is the consummate newspaper-man,”
Nabors said. “He is sometimes prone to be a bit overblown with his stories.”
“A bit overblown? He is a pompous blowhard,” Doc Baker said.
On the 28th, Instant, desperado Bobby Lee Cabot effected a daring escape from the jail at Cloverdale. The jailbreak came just three days before Cabot was scheduled to be hanged by the neck, the gallows having already been built and prominently displayed on Fremont Street in front of the jail.
The jailbreak occurred at five minutes after eleven p.m. of the clock. There can be no doubt of the time, as it is firmly fixed in the minds of the citizens of Cloverdale who heard the sound of the detonating dynamite, which explosion rent an opening in the back wall.
Deputy Jackson, who was the only eyewitness, states that he saw naught but the backside of Cabot as he made his egress through the aforementioned hole. Jackson discharged his pistol at the escaping prisoner, but the errant ball struck the wall with no effect. It is not known who helped the outlaw escape, but it is known that a telegram was dispatched on Cabot’s behalf to Buck West. Though no one seems to have noticed when or if the man Buck West ever actually arrived in town, Sheriff Wallace harbors the suspicion that West is the one who enabled Cabot to thwart justice.
Bobby Lee Cabot was, at the time of the commission of the crime, a railroad detective for the Western Capital Security Agency. It was the contention of the prosecutor, and the conclusion of the jury, that Cabot took advantage of his position to gather information as to times and routes of trains and stagecoaches, upon which large amounts of money would be transferred.
Because the Western Capital Security Agency is well aware of its obligations to protect its clients, the WCSA has put up a reward of five thousand dollars for the capture of their erstwhile agent.
“You know what I think?” Doc Baker asked.
“What do you think?”
“I think Wallace might have been involved with the train robbery that they got Bobby Lee on,” Doc Baker said.
“I’d be quiet about making that accusation, Doc,” Nabors said. “Wallace doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would take too kindly to it.”
“But don’t you think he might be?”
“I have certainly thought about it,” Nabors admitted. “But let’s say you are right. What can we do about it? Where will we go with our suspicion? To the sheriff?”
“Ha, right,” Doc Baker said sarcastically.
As the two men were discussing the subject, Nabors started to fold the paper closed to return it to Doc Baker. But just as he did, Minnie saw an article that caught her attention.
“No, wait,” she said, reaching for the paper.
“You can have the paper if you want it, but that is the only article about the jailbreak,” Doc Baker said.
“I saw something else I wanted to read,” Minnie said without being specific. One article, in particular, had caught her attention.
